Indians worry about corruption the most

In a global survey titled, 'What worries the world', 46 percent of Indians polled said they worried about financial and political corruption.

Even as the world is getting increasingly polarised, 2017 could well be the beginning of the end of the world as we know it.

The increasing wave of populism witnessed not just in our own backyard but in the so-called developed nations like the US and Europe, is giving rise to anti-globalisation and protectionist policies. Add to that the shift in economic power away from the developed nations to emerging markets like India, there is a general sense of global chaos.

This begs the question, what worries the world most?

According to an Ipsos/Mori’s survey which questioned thousands of people in 25 countries, the greatest worry in the world is unemployment.

Thirty-eight percent of global respondents felt that their greatest worry was unemployment.

“This has been a constant theme ever since the poll was launched in 2010, when 51 percent of citizens highlighted it as a concern. Next in line are concerns about poverty and social inequality (38 percent globally),” the survey noted.

The survey is an attempt to capture whether citizens believed their countries were moving in the right direction or were on the wrong track. And it was no surprise that approximately two-thirds of people around the world felt that their country was on the wrong track.

Interestingly, people in Asia Pacific and BRIC economies were more optimistic than the American and European counterparts.

More than three-quarters of Indians believe their country is on the right track.

Quoting the survey, the World Economic Forum said, “China is bucking the trend with 90 percent of people expressing confidence in their country’s direction, followed by Saudi Arabia (80 percent). Brazil is the notable exception among the BRICs nations with only 17 percent believing the country is heading in the right direction. In Asia, South Korea is an outlier too. Just 13 percent of its citizens have faith in the country’s trajectory. Among the Western nations, Canadians are the only people with a predominantly positive outlook (54 percent).”

And if you were wondering, then men are more likely to feel that their country is heading in the right direction in a number of countries, particularly in the US, Israel, and Russia. The survey pointed out that “women are hardly ever more optimistic than men.”

The survey points out top five global worries as the reason for this discontent. They are unemployment, poverty & social inequality, political & financial corruption, crime & violence, and healthcare.

The topmost worry for Indians, according to the survey, is financial & political corruption. Nearly 46 percent people in India expressed that as their common worry. This can perhaps explain why demonetisation was largely seen as a success here.

Nearly 43 percent people in India had terrorism as their second biggest concern, followed by unemployment (34 percent) and poverty & social inequality (29 percent).

According to Ipsos/Mori’s survey, “The survey is conducted monthly in 25 countries around the world via the Ipsos Online Panel system. An international sample of 18,110 adults aged 18-64 in Canada, Israel and the US, and aged 16-64 in all other countries, were interviewed between October 21st and November 4th 2016.” It said in countries like India with lower internet penetration, this sample “should not be considered nationally representative, and instead be considered to represent a more affluent, connected population. These are still a vital social group to understand in these countries, representing an important and emerging middle class.”